JP4693455B2 - Television receiver with telephone mode - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a television receiver with a telephone mode, to be connected to a network other computers and television receivers with communicable telephone mode.

  In recent years, it has become possible to obtain various types of information using the Internet, and there is one using a television receiver as a man-machine interface for that purpose (for example, Patent Document 1). On the other hand, there is a problem that it is difficult for those who are not used to handling information devices, such as elderly people and children, to find desired information from information flooded on the Internet. In order to search for desired information from a large amount of information, an appropriate keyword must be input, and knowledge and experience are required. For this reason, it is difficult for an unfamiliar person to enter a keyword, and it takes time to search for desired information, and sometimes it cannot be searched.

On the other hand, while watching a television broadcast, there are times when it is desired to obtain familiar information related to information obtained from the broadcast. For example, when a cooking program or a commercial of a dish is broadcast and you want to eat at a nearby restaurant that offers the same type of dishes. If you try to check later on the Internet, you may forget while watching the program. Even if you remember, there is a problem that the memory is ambiguous and you cannot find the information.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-24640

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a telephone with a telephone mode capable of obtaining familiar information related to the content being watched in a timely manner. It is to provide a receiver.

In order to achieve the above-described object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a television receiver includes a broadcast signal receiving unit that receives a broadcast signal, a display unit that outputs an image included in the broadcast signal, and a broadcast signal. A speaker that outputs included sound, a communication means that can communicate with other computers connected to the network, an operation instruction receiving means that receives an input of an operation instruction, and an operation when an image is output on the display means Broadcast-related information extracting means for extracting broadcast-related information included in a broadcast signal in response to an operation instruction for specifying broadcast contents being input to the instruction receiving means, and input of position information for specifying a geographical position A search key containing at least the extracted broadcast related information and the position information input to the position information input means by controlling the communication means. Search key transmission means for transmitting to a predetermined database server connected to the work, and at least one service information received from the database server by the communication means in response to transmission of the search key, the received at least one service A display control unit that displays information on the display unit, a voice input unit for inputting voice, and an operation instruction receiving unit that is specified in response to receiving an instruction for specifying service information displayed on the display unit. Communication between the connection request means for causing the communication means to transmit a request for establishing communication with another computer connected to the network based on the access information included in the service information and the other computer Is established, the voice input to the voice input means by controlling the communication means is transferred to other computers. While a voice transmitting means for signal, communication with other computers is established, it comprises a voice output means for controlling the communication means a voice received from another computer from a speaker, a.

  According to the present invention, broadcast related information included in a broadcast signal being received is extracted, and a search key including at least broadcast related information and position information is transmitted to the database server. When service information is received from the database server in response to the transmission of the search key, the received service information is displayed. Therefore, service information related to a desired geographical position is displayed among service information related to the broadcast being received. As a result, it is possible to provide a television receiver capable of obtaining familiar information related to the content being viewed in a timely manner.

When an instruction for specifying the displayed service information is received, a request for establishing communication with another computer is transmitted based on the network address included in the specified service information. While the communication with the other computer is established, the input sound is transmitted to the other computer, and the sound received from the other computer is output from the speaker. For this reason, if service information is designated, it becomes possible to talk with the user of another computer, and the detailed information of service information can be heard from the user of another computer. As a result, operability can be improved.
Preferably, an image data transmission unit that causes the communication unit to transmit the image data output by the imaging unit while the communication between the imaging unit that images the subject and outputs the image data and the other computer is established. The display control means causes the display means to display an image received from another computer by the communication means.
Preferably, communication established between the storage means for temporarily storing the broadcast signal received by the broadcast signal receiving means after at least one service information is displayed on the display means and the other computer is disconnected. In response to this, the apparatus further includes a reproducing means for reproducing the temporarily stored broadcast signal.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed description thereof will not be repeated.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a service information providing system in one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a service information providing system 1 includes a transmission station 301 that transmits a television broadcast signal, a television receiver 100 that receives the broadcast signal, and a network 302 to which the television receiver 100 is connected. The database server 200 and personal computers (PCs) 300, 300A, and 300B each connected to the network 302 are included.

  The network 302 is here the Internet. The network 302 may be a local area network (LAN). The network 302 may be wired or wireless.

  The television receiver 100 receives a broadcast signal transmitted from the transmission station 301 and outputs a video signal and an audio signal included in the broadcast signal to the display and the speaker, respectively, thereby outputting a video from the display and the speaker. To output audio. In addition, since the television receiver 100 is connected to the network 302, it can communicate with the database server 200 and the PCs 300, 300 </ b> A, 300 </ b> B via the network 302.

  Since the database server 200 and the PCs 300, 300A, and 300B are general computers and their configurations and functions are well known to those skilled in the art, their description will not be repeated here. The database server 200 has a database that stores service information. When a search key for searching the database is input, service information that matches the search key is extracted and output.

  The PCs 300, 300A, and 300B are computers for registering service information in the database of the database server 200, and are personal computers for operation by a service provider. The service provider operates the PCs 300, 300A, and 300B to store service information including its own store, the type of service to be provided, contents, a postal code as geographical location information, an address, and a telephone number in the database server 200. sign up. Therefore, service information registered by the service provider is stored in the database included in the database server 200. The database server 200 may store not only service information registered from the PCs 300, 300A, and 300B but also service information directly input from an input device such as a keyboard of the database server 200.

  In addition, although the figure shows the example which connects one database server 200 and three PC300, 300A, 300B, these numbers are not limited.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the structure of a database stored in the database server. With reference to FIG. 2, here, an example is shown in which service information registered in a database server is classified and stored by geographic information. The service information is information related to services provided by the subject, such as information related to services provided in stores, information related to services provided by local organizations and voluntary organizations, and information related to services provided by organizations. The service information includes identification information for identifying the subject and a geographical location. The geographical location is, for example, a postal code, an address or a telephone number. This is because the postal code and telephone number are information for specifying a predetermined area. For example, when the subject is a store, the service information of the store includes a store name and an address.

  The database server 200 stores the service information hierarchically based on the geographical location included in the service information. In the figure, an example is shown in which data is classified and stored in a hierarchy of regions, cities, wards, towns, and addresses. The service information includes access information for accessing the service provider. The access information is information for accessing the service provider. For example, the IP address assigned to the PC owned by the service provider or the telephone number of the telephone owned by the service provider (including the telephone number of the IP phone) )including.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing detailed functions of the television receiver in this embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, a television receiver 100 is connected to a central processing unit (CPU) 101 for overall control, a TV tuner 102 for extracting audio and video signals from broadcast signals, and a CPU 101, respectively. Audio circuit 103, video circuit 104, LAN interface (I / F) 109, memory 110, signal converter 111, on-screen display (OSD) circuit 105, display 108, and microphone 106 connected to the audio circuit 103, respectively. , Speaker 107, light receiving unit 112 connected to signal conversion unit 111, and remote controller 113.

  The audio circuit 103 is connected to the TV tuner 102, processes an audio signal input from the TV tuner 102, and outputs it to the speaker 107. The audio circuit 103 includes an encoding circuit that encodes an analog audio signal into a digital audio signal, and a decoding circuit that decodes the digital audio signal into an analog audio signal. The audio circuit 103 encodes an analog audio signal input from the microphone 106 into a digital audio signal by an encoding circuit when the television receiver 100 is in an IP (Internet Protocol) telephone mode to be described later. The digital audio signal output from the LAN I / F 109 is decoded by the decoding circuit and output to the speaker 107.

  The video circuit 104 is connected to the TV tuner 102, processes a video signal input from the TV tuner 102, and outputs it to the CPU 101. The OSD 105 superimposes character information on the video signal output from the video circuit 104 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 101.

  The display 108 is a plasma display panel (PDP), and displays a video signal output from the video circuit 104 or a video signal on which character information is superimposed by the OSD 105 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 101. The display 108 may be a liquid crystal display device or a cathode ray tube (CRT).

  The LAN I / F 109 is a network interface for connecting the television receiver 100 to the network 302. The LAN I / F 109 may be a modem. The memory 110 is a semiconductor storage device such as a random access memory (RAM). The CPU 101 writes data to the memory 110 or reads data from the memory 110. The memory 110 stores service data to be described later.

  The remote controller 113 includes an operation button for receiving a user operation instruction, and emits infrared light corresponding to the instructed operation button. Infrared light emitted from the remote controller 113 is received by the light receiving unit 112. The light receiving unit 112 includes a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD, receives infrared rays output from the remote controller 113, converts the received light into an electrical signal, and outputs the electrical signal to the signal conversion unit 111.

  The signal conversion unit 111 generates an instruction signal corresponding to a user operation output from the remote controller 113 based on the electrical signal output from the light receiving unit 112 and outputs the instruction signal to the CPU 101. The CPU 101 switches processing to be executed according to an instruction signal input from the signal conversion unit 111. For example, switching of a channel selected by the TV tuner 102 is performed.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of service information acquisition processing executed by the television receiver. This service information acquisition process is a process executed by the CPU 101. The CPU 101 includes a read-only memory (ROM), and executes a process to be described later by executing a service information acquisition program stored therein. The service information acquisition process is executed when the television receiver 100 receives a broadcast signal and outputs video and audio based on the broadcast signal from the display 108 and the speaker 107.

  In the service information acquisition process, first, the presence / absence of an access request for information is determined (step S01). If there is an access request, the process proceeds to step S02, and if there is no access request, a standby state is entered. Therefore, the service information acquisition process is a process executed in response to an access request. Actually, the CPU 101 generates an interrupt when an access request is detected, and executes the processes after step S02. The access request is an instruction from the user, and is output as an infrared signal from the remote controller 113 when a request switch provided in the remote controller 113 is pressed. Infrared light corresponding to the access request output from the remote controller 113 is received by the light receiving unit 112, converted into an instruction signal by the signal conversion unit 111, and output to the CPU 101. The access request may be input by instructing a predetermined button switch on an operation panel provided on the front surface of the television receiver 100.

  In step S02, broadcast related information is acquired. Broadcast-related information is information included in a broadcast signal. Broadcast related information includes the following information.

  (1) Information included separately from a video signal and an audio signal when the broadcast signal is a digital signal. For example, information about the program being broadcast, such as the star of the program being broadcast, contents of the synopsis, the title of the song, the name of the singer, etc. .

  (2) Information extracted from the video signal of the broadcast signal. For example, text data obtained by character recognition of characters extracted from an image of one frame.

  (3) Information extracted from the audio signal of the broadcast signal. For example, text data obtained by voice recognition of voice signals.

  The broadcast related information acquired in step S02 is acquired immediately after the access request is detected in step S01. For this reason, the information related to the image and the sound flowing while the user is browsing the television with the television receiver is acquired as the broadcast-related information. Note that a video signal and an audio signal in the past for a predetermined time are stored in the memory 110, and an access request is input when the past video signal and the audio signal are reproduced in accordance with a user instruction input to the remote controller 113. You may do it. In this case, information related to images and sounds output in the past by the television receiver can be acquired as broadcast-related information.

  Next, position information of the user of the television receiver is acquired (step S03). This position information may be registered in advance in the television receiver. The location information may be a postal code, an address, or a telephone number. In addition, the user of the television receiver may input the position information at this time. In this case, the television receiver 100 displays a position information input screen on the display 108 and prompts the user to input position information.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the position information input screen. Referring to FIG. 5, the position information input screen includes an area for inputting a telephone number and an area for inputting an address. The user inputs position information by inputting either the telephone number and address or the telephone number and address from the remote controller 113 according to the position information input screen. When entering an address, it is convenient if the user can select an option by pressing the cursor movement button and the decision button if options are displayed for each prefecture, city, and town as shown in the figure. . In addition, although the example which inputs a telephone number and an address was shown in FIG. 5, you may provide the column which inputs a postal code.

  Returning to FIG. 4, after the position information is acquired, the search key is transmitted to the database server 200 (step S04). The search key includes the broadcast related information acquired in step S02 and the position information acquired in step S03. An IP address is used for the position of the database server 200 on the network 302. The position of the database server 200 on the network 302 is stored in advance in a nonvolatile memory included in the television receiver 100. In addition, although the database server 200 shows the example of 1 unit | set here, it is good also as multiple units | sets. In that case, a search key is transmitted to each of the plurality of database servers. Further, the user may select at least one of the plurality of database servers.

  In the database server 200, when a search key is input, the database is searched using the search key. When service information matching the search key is extracted, the extracted service information is transmitted to the television receiver 100 that has transmitted the search key. If service information matching the search key is not extracted, a signal indicating that the service information has not been extracted is transmitted to the television receiver 100 that has transmitted the search key. The extracted service information or a signal indicating that the service information has not been extracted corresponds to the search result.

  Next, the television receiver 100 determines whether or not the search result received from the database server 200 to which the search key is transmitted in step S04 is service information. If it is service information, the process proceeds to step S06. Otherwise, the process returns to step S01. The received service information is stored in a predetermined area of the memory 110.

  In the next step S06, recording of the currently received broadcast signal to the memory 110 is started. A part of the memory 110 is configured as a ring buffer, and broadcast signals are recorded in the area. The broadcast signal is recorded by compressing and encoding the video signal and the audio signal by, for example, the MPEG compression encoding method. Since a part of the memory 110 is a ring buffer, a broadcast signal received in the past for a predetermined time can be output by reading and outputting the broadcast signal recorded in the memory 110 while recording the broadcast signal.

  In the next step S07, the service information received in step S05 is displayed on the display 108. In step S06, the recording of the broadcast signal in the memory 110 is started because the broadcast signal broadcasted while the service information is displayed on the display 108 is prevented from being lost and viewed later. This is to make it possible.

  In step S08, it is determined whether or not any of the displayed service information is designated. If it is designated, the process proceeds to step S09, and if it is not designated, the process proceeds to step S15.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a service information display screen. This service information display screen is a screen displayed on the display in step S07 of FIG. Here, the case where the service information stored in the memory 110 in step S05 is information on a store that provides a clothing or food product or service is shown. Service information is displayed in hierarchical order. This is because when the number of pieces of service information is large, the number of pieces of service information displayed is reduced to facilitate selection. FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a service information display screen in the first layer. The service information display screen on the first level includes a selection button corresponding to each in order to select one of clothing, food, and shelter. When any button is instructed by the user using the remote controller 113, the second level The service information display screen is displayed.

  FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating an example of the second layer service information display screen. The second layer service information display screen shown in FIG. 6B is the first layer service information display screen shown in FIG. 6A and is displayed when the “food” selection button is instructed. It is. The service information display screen on the second layer includes a selection button with characters “Western” for selecting Western food, a selection button with characters “Japanese” for selecting Japanese food, and a confectionery. And a selection button displaying characters of “confectionery” for selection. When any button is instructed by the user using the remote controller 113, a service information display screen on the third layer is displayed.

  FIG. 6C is a diagram illustrating an example of a service information display screen on the third layer. The service information display screen on the third layer shown in FIG. 6C is the screen displayed when any one of the selection buttons is instructed on the service information display screen on the second layer shown in FIG. 6B. is there. The service information display screen of the third hierarchy is a screen for displaying a list of service information. For each service information, a store name, business hours, and a service content button for displaying the service content included therein including.

  When the service content button on the third layer service information display screen is instructed by the user using the remote controller 113, the first service information display screen on the fourth layer is displayed. FIG. 6D is a diagram illustrating an example of the first service information display screen in the fourth layer. The first service information display screen in the fourth hierarchy includes an area for displaying a store menu and a designation button.

  When the store name on the third layer service information display screen is instructed by the user using the remote controller 113, the second layer second service information display screen is displayed. FIG. 6E is a diagram showing an example of the second service information display screen in the fourth layer. The second service information display screen of the fourth hierarchy includes an area for displaying detailed store information such as store opening hours, a telephone number, and a map showing the location of the store, and a designation button.

  When the designation buttons on the first service information display screen and the second service information display screen in the fourth hierarchy are instructed by the user using the remote controller 113, the service information is handled as designated.

  Each screen includes a “return” button, and when it is instructed by the user using the remote controller 113, a service information display screen of one level higher is displayed. When the “return” button is instructed by the user using the remote controller 113 in the state in which the service information display screen at the highest level is displayed, it is handled that the service information is not specified.

  Returning to FIG. 4, in step S08, it is determined whether service information is specified. If the designation buttons on the first service information display screen and the second service information display screen in the fourth layer are instructed by the user using the remote controller 113, the process proceeds to step S09, and the service information display screen in the first layer If “RETURN” button is instructed by the user using the remote controller 113 in a state where is displayed, the process proceeds to step S15.

  In step S09, a connection request is transmitted to the access destination according to the access information included in the designated service information. If the access information is a telephone number, the IP telephone number is transmitted from the LAN I / F using the IP telephone function. If the access information is an IP address, a connection request is transmitted to the PC specified by the IP address. Here, the access information will be described as an IP address assigned to the PC 300.

  The database server 200 may be requested to access from the service provider. In this case, the IP address or telephone number (including the telephone number of the IP telephone) between the service provider and the television receiver is transmitted to the database server 200. Thereby, an instruction for accessing the user (television receiver 100) is transmitted from the database server 200 to the service provider by e-mail, for example. The service provider that has received such an instruction accesses the user of the television receiver 100 by telephone by browsing the electronic mail received by the PC.

  In response to the connection request transmitted in step S09, the apparatus enters a standby state until a connection is established with the destination PC 300 that requested the connection (step S10). During this standby state, the broadcast signal stored in the memory 110 is read and output. If the connection is established, the process proceeds to step S11, switches to the IP telephone mode (step S11), and enters the call mode (step S12). In the television receiver 100, in the IP telephone mode, the audio input from the microphone 106 is encoded by the encoding circuit of the audio circuit 103, output to the LAN I / F 109, and transmitted to the PC 300. An audio signal received from the PC 300 by the LAN I / F 109 is decoded by the audio circuit 103 and output from the speaker 107.

  The television receiver 100 functions as a telephone when in the IP telephone mode. Therefore, the user of the television receiver 100 can talk with the service provider using the microphone 106 and the speaker 107 and can know more detailed information. Also, for example, a reservation for service provision can be made by telephone.

  In the next step S13, it is determined whether or not the call has ended. If it is determined that the call has ended, the process proceeds to step S14; otherwise, the process returns to step S12. The end of the call is determined by detecting that the user has instructed the end using the remote controller 113 or by detecting the disconnection of communication with the PC 300.

  In step S14, the IP telephone mode is terminated and the process proceeds to step S15. The end of the IP telephone mode ends the encoding process of the voice input from the microphone 106 and the decoding process of the audio signal transmitted from the PC 300 through the LAN I / F 109, which has been processed by the audio circuit 103.

  In step S15, reading of the video data stored in the memory 110 is started. The video signal that has been compression-encoded and stored in the MPEG compression method is decoded and output from the display 108 and the speaker 107 (step S16). For this reason, in step S07, the video and audio that have not been output since the service information was displayed are continuously output from the time when they are no longer output. As a result, it is possible to prevent an intermediate scene such as a TV program from being seen. While the service information is displayed, the broadcast signal being received may be displayed on the display 108 as another screen. The broadcast signal being received may not be recorded in the memory 110. In these cases, step S06 and step S15 are not necessary. In addition, the storage capacity of the memory 110 can be reduced.

  In step S17, it is determined whether or not an instruction to turn off the power of the television receiver 100 has been input by the user using the remote controller 113. If true, the process ends. If false, the process returns to step S15.

  As described above, the television receiver 100 according to the present embodiment uses the information and position information related to the video displayed on the display 108 or the sound output from the speaker 107 as keywords, and the database server 200. The service information is searched for and the search result is displayed on the display 108. For this reason, if the user is interested in the video displayed on the display 108 or the audio output from the speaker 107, the user can simply input an access request with the remote controller 113 at that time, and the output video or audio can be displayed. You can know related service information. As a result, since it is not necessary to determine a keyword, desired service information can be easily retrieved from a large amount of information.

  When the service information displayed on the display 108 is specified, the television receiver 100 transmits a request for establishing communication with the computers 300, 300 </ b> A, 300 </ b> B connected to the network 302. And while communication between other computers is established, it functions as a telephone. For this reason, if service information is designated, it becomes possible to talk with the user of another computer, and the detailed information of service information can be heard from the user of another computer. As a result, operability can be improved.

  Note that the above-described television receiver 100 transmits and receives audio in the IP telephone mode, but may transmit and receive video with a computer that has established a connection. The video may be a still image or a moving image. In this case, the television receiver 100 further includes a camera that outputs image data obtained by imaging the subject, and the CPU 101 establishes communication with the computers 300, 300A, and 300B connected to the network 302. During this time, the image data output from the camera is transmitted to the LAN I / F 109.

  (1) The connection request unit of the above-described television receiver requests access to the other computer in order to establish communication with the other computer connected to the network.

  (2) The connection request means of the above-described television receiver requests access to the database server in order to establish communication with another computer connected to the network.

  (3) The display control means causes the display means to display an image received from the other computer by the communication means.

(4) imaging means for imaging a subject and outputting image data;
The image processing apparatus further includes image data transmission means for causing the communication means to transmit image data output from the imaging means while communication with the other computer is established.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

It is a figure which shows the outline of the service information provision system in one of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the structure of the database memorize | stored in a database server. It is a functional block diagram which shows the detailed function of the television receiver in this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the service information acquisition process performed with a television receiver. It is a figure which shows an example of a positional information input screen. It is a figure which shows an example of a service information display screen.

Explanation of symbols

  1 service information providing system, 100 television receiver, 102 TV tuner, 103 audio circuit, 104 video circuit, 105 OSD circuit, 106 microphone, 107 speaker, 108 display, 109 LAN I / F, 110 memory, 111 signal conversion unit, 112 light receiving unit, 113 remote controller, 200 database server, 301 transmitting station, 302 network.

Claims (3)

Broadcast signal receiving means for receiving a broadcast signal;
Display means for outputting video included in the broadcast signal;
A speaker for outputting audio included in the broadcast signal;
Communication means capable of communicating with other computers connected to the network;
An operation instruction receiving means for receiving an operation instruction input;
Broadcast-related information for extracting broadcast-related information included in a broadcast signal in response to an operation instruction specifying broadcast content being input to the operation instruction receiving means when the video is being output to the display means Extraction means;
Position information input means for receiving position information input for specifying a geographical position;
Search key transmission for controlling the communication means to transmit a search key including at least the extracted broadcast-related information and the position information input to the position information input means to a predetermined database server connected to the network Means,
Display control means for causing the display means to display the received at least one service information when at least one service information is received by the communication means from the database server in response to transmission of the search key;
Voice input means for inputting voice;
In response to an instruction for identifying the service information displayed on the display unit being accepted by the operation instruction accepting unit, another operation unit connected to the network based on access information included in the identified service information. Connection request means for causing the communication means to transmit a request for establishing communication with a computer;
Voice communication means for controlling the communication means and transmitting the voice input to the voice input means to the other computer while communication with the other computer is established;
A telephone mode comprising: audio output means for controlling the communication means to output the sound received from the other computer from the speaker while communication with the other computer is established; with a television receiver. Imaging means for imaging a subject and outputting image data;
An image data transmission unit that causes the communication unit to transmit image data output by the imaging unit while communication with the other computer is established;
The display control means causes the display means to display an image received from the other computer by the communication means.
The television receiver with a telephone mode according to claim 1. Storage means for temporarily storing a broadcast signal received by the broadcast signal receiving means after the at least one service information is displayed on the display means;
The telephone according to claim 1, further comprising: a reproducing unit that reproduces the temporarily stored broadcast signal in response to disconnection of communication established with the other computer. Television receiver with mode.

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